The general construction and method of operation of upright vacuum cleaners are both well known. Also well known is the capability of upright vacuum cleaners to be converted from a traditional upright cleaning mode (in which the entire vacuum cleaner is maneuvered across a floor surface) into a cylinder mode for “above-the-floor” cleaning. For such purposes, upright cleaners often incorporate an integral hose and wand arrangement which can be brought into operation when required. In some cases, the hose and wand assembly consists of an integral hose which forms part of the airflow path between the cleaner head and the separation apparatus when the machine is used in upright mode, with one end of the hose being releasable from a socket in the main body when above-the-floor cleaning is to be carried out. A separate wand, which is often carried on the main body of the vacuum cleaner, can then be attached to the hose for improving the reach of the hose and wand assembly. A disadvantage of this type of arrangement is that, when the machine is used in upright mode, the incoming air still has to travel through the hose which unnecessarily increases losses.
Another known type of hose and wand assembly is that used on the Dyson range of upright vacuum cleaners, model numbers DC01, DC03, DC04 and DC07. In these vacuum cleaners, the lower end of the hose is fixedly connected to the main body of the respective cleaner but the upper end is slidingly connected to the tubular portion of a wand handle. The wand handle comprises a moulded handle portion with a tubular wand rigidly connected thereto. The handle portion can be attached to the main body of the vacuum cleaner and used in the manner of a handle, in which case the upper end of the hose is slid to the upper end of the wand so that the wand is then stored inside the hose. When above-the-floor cleaning is required, the handle portion is released from the main body, the upper end of the hose is slid to the lower end of the wand and tools can be attached to the handle portion to effect the cleaning required. A valve arrangement automatically selects the point of entry of the dirty air into the vacuum cleaner: in upright mode the point of entry is via the cleaner head and for “above-the-floor” cleaning the point of entry is via the hose and wand. The principle by which this entire arrangement operates is described in EP 0037674B.
A disadvantage of this arrangement is that, because the handle portion is designed to be used as the handle of the machine in the upright mode, the arrangement of the handle is not ideally suited for “above-the-floor” mode. The user tends to grip the lower end of the wand remote from the handle portion when carrying out “above-the-floor” cleaning, at least when cleaning areas at high levels such as cornices and curtain rails. In a refinement of the arrangement, some Dyson vacuum cleaners have incorporated a hose and wand assembly in which the handle portion and wand can be released from the upper end of the hose, turned around and reconnected in the reverse orientation. This arrangement is shown and described in detail in WO 01/65989 and provides better grip for the user and better balance of the handle and wand during use. A disadvantage of this reverse orientation wand arrangement is that the user is required to disassemble and reassemble the hose and wand assembly prior to use for “above-the-floor” cleaning and then, of course, to repeat the disassembly operation before returning to normal upright mode.
In a further refinement of the wand arrangement of WO 01/65989 the tubular wand is slidably mounted in the handle portion so as to be movable between a first position (for the “above-the-floor” cleaning mode) in which the tubular wand extends beyond the handle portion away from the flexible hose and a second position (for normal upright mode) in which the tubular wand extends beyond the handle portion inside the flexible hose. The arrangement is described in detail in WO 06/08444. The wand arrangement of WO 06/08444 represents an improvement over the wand arrangement of WO 01/65989 as the user is not required to remove and reverse the wand when changing between different vacuuming modes. Nevertheless, even the refined arrangement of WO 06/08444 involves a two-part procedure for assembling (and disassembling) the wand and handle unit when changing between “above-the-floor” cleaning and normal upright mode. During one part of the procedure the tubular wand is moved within the handle portion and, separately the handle assembly is removed from the main body of the machine. The user must carry out the two-stage procedure when changing from normal upright cleaning mode to “above-the-floor” cleaning and again when returning the handle assembly to normal upright mode. A disadvantage of the wand arrangement of WO 06/08444 is that the mode change operation can be time consuming for the user. Some users may find that the handle assembly becomes awkward and difficult to manipulate through a two stage procedure. In addition, the two-stage manual operation can result in incorrect assembly. An incorrect assembly could lead to a reduction in performance due to air being bled into the assembly through inefficient seals.